Increasing in demand when declining in population

The Mukherjee Committee on private housing (1981) observed that the housing finance system in the country is in highly under-developed state and there are many institutional gaps. Unlike in some of the developed countries, the institutions such as, the local saving and house-loan societies, housing mortgage insurance agencies, and the secondary housing markets are yet to take moorings in this country. Further, the system is still predominantly non-formal in character.

A study by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy has observed that the formal housing finance system comprising mainly, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and the General Insurance Corporation (GIC), the Commercial Banks and specialist bodies of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and the State Apex Housing Corporations could meet only 23 percent of the financial requirement of private house constructions. The major share (77%) of housing finance has been mobilized by the individual house builders from sources such as their own savings, sale of other assets and the borrowings from the ÃƒÂ§Ã‚Â²Ã¢â‚¬â€xtended family?

When considering the proliferation of apartments and luxury Homes Kerala is witnessing a boom unseen in early times even when there is a continuous decline in population growth as per the census statistics published by the government since the year 1981. Prominent government schools that catered to the needs of thousands of students have either shut down or have been converted for other uses.

So if there is a negative growth, the need for more living spaces must decline. But this is not the case due to the popularity of the nuclear family culture. The total eclipse of the joint family system has led to phenomenal changes in the real estate sector.